Mama and Mommy
by Another Bechloe Shipper
Summary: Beca's wife Chloe is carrying their baby. She's having a complicated pregnancy and goes on bed rest. Based on a Tumblr prompt


Beca was sitting in another boring meeting at the office when her phone rang. It was her wife, Chloe. She instantly worried, knowing that Chloe was supposed to be at an appointment with the obstetrician. She excused herself to answer the phone, mouthing "It's my wife" as she left the conference room.

"Hey, Chloe, is everything okay?"

"Beca, I need you to come and pick me up."

"What's the matter?"

"My blood pressure is up and they found protein in my urine. I have preeclampsia. It's mild right now, so they're putting me on bed rest."

"I'll leave right now," said Beca. She may have broken a few speed records on the way to the OB's office, but she was so worried. Chloe was already dealing with gestational diabetes, and she had to keep a strict diet and prick her finger several times a day to check her blood sugar.

Beca walked into the OB's office where Chloe was sitting in the waiting room. "Hey, baby, I'm here," she said, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Ready to go home?"

"Yes."

The ride home was fairly quiet, both women lost in thought. Once they walked into the house, Beca set Chloe up with everything she would need - television, snacks, and her laptop.

"On your left side, Chlo."

"But that's so uncomfortable," she said.

"I read the doctor's orders. You're to lay on your left side as much as possible, only getting up to use the bathroom and take a short walk every few hours."

Chloe began to cry. "I'm so bad at this," she said. "Carrying the baby is the one thing I had to do, and I can't even do that right."

"None of this is your fault, Chloe," said Beca. "These are just things that happen. Now, let's do the best we can to keep this little munchkin cooking for at least four more weeks." Chloe was thirty-three weeks along, and the doctor said they would try and let Chloe carry to thirty-seven weeks if she and the baby were stable.

"Now, let me handle everything else," said Beca. "You relax and tell our little munchkin to stay put. I'm going to have Stacie and Aubrey pick up your car."

Beca left the room to call their friends Stacie and Aubrey. They readily agreed to head over to pick up Chloe's car keys and then grab Chloe's car from the parking lot. She also called her boss and arranged to work from home for the remainder of Chloe's pregnancy. She'd already arranged to take the first six weeks at home with Chloe once the baby was born.

She came back to the living room with Chloe's body pillow in hand. "Here," she said. "Let's get you comfortable. Do you need anything before I get back to work?"

"No," said Chloe. "You're so good to me."

"Okay," she said, kissing her wife on the forehead. "Just holler if you need anything."

Beca tried to get back to the project on which she'd been working before the meeting and the phone call. She managed, but she kept an ear out for Chloe. She chastised herself for letting Chloe carry their baby. Chloe had wanted to, and Beca had agreed, but now she felt guilty. Maybe if she'd been willing to carry the baby, they wouldn't be going through this. "Can't do anything about it now," she muttered to herself. She told herself that she wouldn't let Chloe carry another baby if they decided to have one. Either she'd carry, or they'd adopt. It had taken several months of trying before Chloe had gotten pregnant, and then she'd had horrible morning sickness. Once that passed, they had a few weeks of bliss before she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Stacie and Aubrey came back and sat with Chloe for a little while after picking up her car.

At 5:00 on the dot, Beca signed off of her work laptop and went to the living room to check on her wife. "What are you watching?"

"Judge Judy," said Chloe. "Nothing is on, and I'm already tired of Netflix."

"Sorry, honey. What do you want for dinner?"

"I don't know," said Chloe. "Everything I feel like eating is just going to jack up my stupid blood sugar."

Beca sat at Chloe's feet and picked one up and began to gently massage it.

"Thanks, that feels nice. Damn things are so swollen. I feel like a whale. I look so ugly," said Chloe, crying again.

"You're beautiful to me," said Beca, handing her wife a tissue. "How about I make us some turkey burgers?"

"Okay," said Chloe, still sniffling.

"I'll be right back. Have you gotten up to walk around yet?"

Chloe shook her head. "Just to pee, which is, like, every ten minutes."

"Why don't you walk for a few minutes while I cook the burgers? We'll eat together in front of the TV. I'll watch whatever you want."

"Okay," said Chloe.

Things went that way for the next three weeks. Beca worked from home, mostly staying near Chloe, who was getting increasingly irritable and uncomfortable.

* * *

The day Chloe reached thirty-six weeks pregnant, she woke up with blurry vision. "Beca, wake up."

"What is it?"

"Beca, something's wrong. Everything's blurry. I think we need to go to the hospital."

Beca snapped awake at that statement. "Okay, let me look at the literature they gave us and get dressed. You stay there."

Beca looked through the paperwork the OB had sent home. Sure enough, blurry vision was a danger sign. She called the OB's office and asked their answering service to page the OB on call. She got a call back a minute later, and they confirmed that Beca needed to get Chloe to labor and delivery right away.

"Chloe, can you stand?" asked Beca.

"I think so," said Chloe, slowly getting up. "Okay, yeah, I'm standing."

"I'll get your bag. We're heading to the hospital."

"Okay," said Chloe. She began to sniffle.

"Oh, honey, don't cry," said Beca.

"But, I messed up. Again. I was supposed to make it to week thirty-seven."

"Chloe, it's week thirty-six. It's going to be okay." Beca wasn't entirely sure she believed her own statement, but she was trying to stay calm as best as she could. She knew the doctor's office had done the best they could. She'd been bringing Chloe to the hospital twice a week for non-stress tests to make sure she and the baby were okay, and they'd been giving her steroid shots to help the little one's lungs mature, just in case.

Beca rushed to the hospital, parked in the spots for labor and delivery, and grabbed Chloe a wheelchair.

"Beca, I can walk."

"Sit down," said Beca. "I'm not taking any chances."

She brought her wife to the check-in desk, relieved that the OB's office had already told the department to expect Chloe. They were already taking her vitals while Beca checked her in.

After Beca finished checking Chloe in, a nurse led her to a labor and delivery room. Chloe was in a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV and a ton of monitors.

"Well, it looks like we're having a baby today," said the OB.

"I'm thirty-six weeks, and they wanted me to make it to thirty-seven," said Chloe.

"Thirty-seven weeks is considered full-term, but right now it's more important that we get the baby out. I see you've been getting steroid shots, so hopefully, this little one will come out breathing on his or her own. Your blood pressure is pretty high, so we're inducing labor. It's more dangerous to both you and the baby to keep this one cooking any longer," he said.

The doctor started Pitocin to get contractions going. Shortly after that, Chloe began having contractions pretty regularly. Beca held her wife's hand and tried to rub her back through the contractions, feeling helpless to take away her wife's pain.

"There you go, Chloe, you can do this," said Beca during a contraction that looked to be pretty painful. "Okay, that's one less contraction."

"More ice," said Chloe.

"Sure," said Beca, giving her wife an ice chip.

The doctor came in a few minutes later to check on Chloe. "Okay, it looks like you're at about six centimeters dilated. That's really good. You and the baby are okay so far. How's the pain?"

"Bad," said Chloe.

"You're at the point that you should probably get the epidural now if you want one, otherwise it might not have time to work. Once you get to seven centimeters, that's usually the fastest part of labor."

"What do you think?" Chloe asked Beca.

"It's your decision," said Beca. "I'll support you either way."

"I think I'll get the epidural."

"I'll have someone in shortly," said the doctor.

The anesthesiologist came in, explained to Chloe how to sit still so he could get the needle in properly. Beca had to look away while still holding her wife's hand.

"Beca, are you okay?" asked Chloe.

"Fine. I just don't like needles, and I certainly don't like seeing someone stick one in your spine."

"Relax," said the anesthesiologist. "Both of you. I do this all the time. So long as Chloe can be pretty still, I'll have this in and she should be feeling the relief in no time."

"Okay, 1, 2, 3, and it's done."

"Oh my god, that's so much better," said Chloe. She visibly relaxed as the pain went away almost instantly.

The relief was short, though. Just a few minutes later, the OB walked in. He and the nurse had Chloe roll over, and then he reached between Chloe's legs. "I'm just trying to move the baby. There's some distress."

Beca glanced over at the monitors and realized why. The baby's heart rate was dropping considerably.

"Okay, sweetheart, we're taking you back for a c-section."

"What?" asked Chloe.

"The little one's heart rate is dropping, and you're only at seven centimeters. If we don't get them out now, we're risking brain damage or worse."

"I'll be with you the whole time," said Beca.

"I'm sorry," said the doctor. "But I'm not sure the epidural has had enough time to kick in. We have to put Chloe under general anesthesia."

"Okay," said Beca. "I love you, Chloe. I'll see you as soon as I can." Beca gave her a quick kiss before they wheeled her wife to the operating room.

Beca paced back and forth while she waited to hear how Chloe was doing. All she could do was hope and pray to any deity that would listen that her wife and child would be okay. She couldn't imagine leaving the hospital without both of them. One of the nurse's assistants from the department offered to bring her something to eat, but Beca was too nervous.

Finally, after about an hour, the OB wheeled in a tired looking, but very happy Chloe, holding their brand new son. "It's a boy!" exclaimed Chloe.

Beca looked over to see a tiny little bundle in her wife's arms. He wasn't hooked to any machines. "You're both okay?" asked Beca.

"We're fine," said Chloe. "He's six pounds, and he already nursed like a champ. Want to hold our son?"

Beca's hands were shaking as she gently took the little bundle from her wife. "Hi, little dude," said Beca.

"So, is he Connor or Christopher?"

"Connor," said Beca.

"I agree. Connor Benjamin…" said Chloe.

"Beale. He should have your last name since you carried him."

"Connor Benjamin Beale," said Chloe.

Chloe filled Beca in on the details since she hadn't been allowed in the operating room. They'd figured out at the last minute that the epidural had kicked in enough to allow Chloe to stay awake during the c-section. Connor had come out crying, so she hadn't had to worry about his ability to breathe. The pediatrician had looked him over, and he'd managed to score a 9 on his Apgar tests, meaning he was super alert.

The nurse's assistant came in to give Connor his first bath, and then she set him in a bassinet with a heat lamp because he'd had a hard time regulating his temperature. Chloe wasn't permitted out of bed, and they put each leg in some sort of device that would regularly squeeze her calves to keep the blood flowing in her legs.

"These stupid things itch," said Chloe.

"I read about DVT, so you'd better keep those things on," said Beca.

A lactation consultant came in, just as Connor was starting to turn his head and move his lips in a sucking motion. "The little guy's rooting," she said, handing him to Chloe. She checked to see that he was latching properly, and they soon could hear some sucking and swallowing. After a good fifteen minutes, he popped the nipple out of his mouth, a little milk dribbling out of his mouth. His eyes shut almost immediately.

The lactation consultant put a blanket over him and Chloe. "This skin-to-skin contact should help warm him up. If you ask me, I think it works better than that heat lamp over the bassinet."

While Connor lay on Chloe's chest, the consultant went over some tips to help Chloe teach Connor how to latch correctly. The consultant handed him to Beca and asked her to put him back in the bassinet and change his diaper.

Just as Beca finished changing him, she noticed Chloe had fallen asleep. Connor was awake and looking around.

"I guess that diaper change woke you up, didn't it?" asked Beca. She opened up her shirt, snuggled Connor against her bare skin, and closed her shirt around him.

"There you go," said Beca. "Let's give Mommy some time to rest. You sure gave us a scare. Did you know that?"

Connor looked up at Beca in wonder.

"Do you know I thought I'd lose you, your Mommy, or maybe both of you?" Beca began to cry. "I've been trying to hold it together so I don't scare your Mommy, but she's asleep now. Don't tell her about this, okay? Can you keep this a secret?"

Beca had been holding it together for weeks, really. She'd been so scared from the moment the doctor put Chloe on bed rest. She'd been trying to be Chloe's rock, and, once the baby arrived, she'd finally let the dam burst and the tears flow. She had been trying to be strong and brave for both of them, and it felt good to finally let her emotions out.

After she'd wiped her eyes and stopped crying, she saw that Connor was still awake. She carefully got up, still keeping the skin-to-skin contact, walked over to the rocking chair in the room and sang to him.

_Lullaby and good night,  
__With pink roses bedight,  
__With lilies o'er spread  
__Is my baby's sweet head.  
__Lay thee down now and rest,  
__May thy slumber be blessed.  
__Lay thee down now and rest,  
__May thy slumber be blessed._

"Goodnight, Connor. Mama and Mommy love you," said Beca as she gently lay him back in the bassinet.

"When did you learn the lyrics to Brahm's Lullaby?" asked Chloe.

"You're awake?" asked Beca.

"Yup."

"For how long?" Beca asked quietly.

"Long enough," said Chloe. "The lullaby?"

"Well, it's a traditional song, for one thing," said Beca. "And I know from hearing stories from practically everyone in my family that my mom sang it to me when I was a baby. I learned the lyrics before you even got pregnant."

"That was beautiful," said Chloe. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Beca. "Just an emotional day."

"Sounds like it's been more than just an emotional day. Why didn't you tell me how worried you were?"

"You've been through so much to bring our son into this world. I didn't need you worrying about me too."

"Hey, we're in this together," said Chloe. "Please don't ever feel like you can't talk to me. I know I've been a mess of hormones and that my pregnancy wasn't easy, but I also don't need you making yourself crazy. Okay?"

"Okay," said Beca. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Let's try and get some sleep while Connor is out." Beca lay on the sleep sofa in Chloe's hospital room, and she soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Tumblr Prompt: Imagine your OTP hours after they have welcomed their first child. Of course, they're still at the hospital. Person A is asleep. Person B has some alone time with the baby. They didn't allow themselves to cry or become very "sappy" earlier, but now that their partner is asleep, they don't care. They let it all out.

Bonus: Person A is awake the whole time and hears everything, but pretends they are asleep. Whether or not they bring it up later is up to you.


End file.
